Method and apparatus for implementing telephone payments

Abstract

There is provided a method of implementing a payment in relation to a telephone call between a customer and a merchant or service provider, the telephone call consisting of a signalling component and a media component. The method comprises, when establishing the telephone call, routing the signalling component to the merchant/service provider via a payment service system and routing the media component directly to the merchant/service provider. The method further comprises, at a communication management system of the merchant or service provider, sending an indication that the customer is required to make a payment to the payment service system and, at the payment service system, upon receipt of the indication that the customer is required to make a payment, using the signalling component of the telephone call to implement a redirection of the media component of the telephone call via the payment service system, extracting payment details of the customer from the redirected media component, and providing the payment details to a payment processing system to action the payment.

1 . A method of implementing a payment in relation to a telephone call between a customer and a merchant/service provider, the telephone call consisting of a signalling component and a media component, the method comprising:
 when establishing the telephone call, routing the signalling component to the merchant/service provider via a payment service system and routing the media component directly to the merchant/service provider;   at a communication management system of the merchant/service provider, sending an indication that the customer is required to make a payment to the payment service system; and   at the payment service system, upon receipt of the indication that the customer is required to make a payment, using the signalling component of the telephone call to implement a redirection of the media component of the telephone call via the payment service system, extracting payment details of the customer from the redirected media component, and providing the payment details to a payment processing system to action the payment.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , and further comprising:
 at the payment service system, upon receipt of confirmation that the payment processing system has actioned the payment, using the signalling component of the telephone call to implement a further redirection of the media component of the telephone call directly to the merchant/service provider.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , and further comprising:
 at the communication management system, providing transaction information to the payment service system, the transaction information specifying details of the payment required in relation to a transaction between the customer and the merchant/service provider; and   at the payment service system, sending the received transaction information to the payment processing system with the payment details.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claims 1 , and further comprising:
 at the communication management system of the merchant/service provider, upon determining that the customer is required to make a payment, determining call identification data for the telephone call, and sending the call identification data to the payment service system; and   at the third party service system, receiving the call identification data from the communication management system, and using the received call identification data to identify the telephone call for which the media component is to be redirected.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , and further comprising:
 at the communication management system of the merchant/service provider, upon determining that the customer is required to make a payment, determining call identification data for the telephone call and transaction identification data for identifying the transaction information associated with the payment required, and sending the call identification data and the transaction identification data to the payment service system; and   at the third party service system, receiving the call identification data and the transaction identification data from the communication management system, using the received call identification data to identify the telephone call for which the media component is to be redirected, using the received transaction identification data to identify the transaction information for the payment, and correlating the transaction information with the identified telephone call.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein correlating the transaction information with the identified telephone call enables the payment service system to associate the transaction information with the payment details communicated over the media component of the telephone call, and the payment service system then sends the transaction information and the associated payment details to the payment processing system to action the payment. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the transaction identification data for identifying the transaction information associated with the payment required comprises:
 a unique agent identifier for an agent of the merchant/service provider that has provided the transaction information to the payment service system;   a unique computer identifier for a computer of the merchant/service provider that has provided the transaction information to the payment service system; and   a unique transaction identifier assigned to the payment required.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claims 4 , wherein the call identification data comprises one or more of:
 a timestamp for the start of the telephone call;   a telephone number of the customer;   a telephone number of the merchant/service provider to which the telephone call has been routed;   a telephone number of an agent of the merchant/service provider that is handling the telephone call;   header information extracted from data packets that comprise the telephone call; and   a unique call identifier assigned to the telephone call.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the payment details extracted from the redirected media comprises one or more of:
 a primary account number, credit card number, or debit card number;   a card verification code;   a card issue number;   a card date of validity and/or date of expiry; and   a password or pin code.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the payment details are communicated from the customer to the payment service system over the media component using any of DTMF audio tones and spoken word (e.g. using Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR)). 
     
     
         11 . A communication management system of a merchant/service provider configured to enable implementation of a payment in relation to a telephone call between a customer and the merchant/service provider, the telephone call consisting of a signalling component and a media component, the communication management system comprising:
 a first receiver configured to receive the signalling component of the telephone call, the signalling component having been routed to the communication management system via a payment service system;   a second receiver configured to receive the media component of the telephone call;   an interface configured to accept an input indicating that the customer is required to make a payment;   a processor configured to generate an indication that the customer is required to make a payment; and   a transmitter configured to send the indication to the payment service system.   
     
     
         12 . A method of operating a communication management system of a merchant/service provider configured to enable implementation of a payment in relation to a telephone call between a customer and the merchant/service provider, the telephone call consisting of a signalling component and a media component, the method comprising:
 receiving the signalling component of the telephone call, the signalling component having been routed to the communication management system via a payment service system, and separately receiving the media component of the telephone call; and   upon receipt of an input indicating that the customer is required to make a payment, generating an indication that the customer is required to make a payment and sending the indication to the payment service system.   
     
     
         13 . A computer readable medium storing computer implementable instructions which when implemented by a programmable computer cause the computer to perform the method as claimed in  claim 12 . 
     
     
         14 . A payment service system configured to implement a payment in relation to a telephone call between a customer and a merchant/service provider, the telephone call consisting of a signalling component and a media component, the payment service system comprising:
 a first transceiver configured to receive the signalling component of the telephone call, the signalling component having been routed via a payment service system, and to implement onward routing of the signalling component to the merchant/service provider;   a receiver configured to receive an indication that the customer is required to make a payment from a communication management system of the merchant/service provider;   a processor configured to, upon receipt of the indication that the customer is required to make a payment, use the signalling component of the telephone call to implement a redirection of the media component of the telephone call via the payment service system, extract payment details of the customer from the redirected media component, and generate a payment request including the payment details; and   a transmitter configured to send the payment request including the payment details to a payment processing system to action the payment.   
     
     
         15 . The payment service system of  claim 14 , and further comprising a second transceiver configured to receive the redirected media component of the telephone call, and to implement onward routing of at least portions of the redirected media component to the merchant/service provider. 
     
     
         16 . The payment service system of  claim 14 , wherein the processor configured to, upon receipt of confirmation that the payment processing system has actioned the payment, use the signalling component of the telephone call to implement a further redirection of the media component of the telephone call directly to the merchant/service provider. 
     
     
         17 . A method of operating a payment service system configured to implement a payment in relation to a telephone call between a customer and a merchant/service provider, the telephone call consisting of a signalling component and a media component, the method comprising:
 receiving the signalling component of the telephone call, the signalling component having been routed via a payment service system, and implementing onward routing of the signalling component to the merchant/service provider;   receiving an indication that the customer is required to make a payment from a communication management system of the merchant/service provider;   upon receipt of the indication that the customer is required to make a payment, using the signalling component of the telephone call to implement a redirection of the media component of the telephone call via the payment service system, extracting payment details of the customer from the redirected media component; and   sending a payment request including the payment details to a payment processing system to action the payment.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , and further comprising:
 receiving the redirected media component of the telephone call, and implementing onward routing of at least portions of the redirected media component to the merchant/service provider.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , and further comprising:
 upon receipt of confirmation that the payment processing system has actioned the payment, using the signalling component of the telephone call to implement a further redirection of the media component of the telephone call directly to the merchant/service provider.   
     
     
         20 . A computer readable medium storing computer implementable instructions which when implemented by a programmable computer cause the computer to perform the method of  claims 17 .